Looking for an interesting new sci-fi series to get into? Well, look no further than Sage Escape from Primal Archetype. Damian S. Simankowicz is the writer and artist on this series. I will give you a short summary of each book and talk about an upcoming release that looks pretty exciting.
Sage Escape – Escape From Earth
This is the first book in the series, introducing us to Friendly Corp and the protagonist of the story, Sage. A cybernetically upgraded teenager, Sage is the first of a new series of Salesman Assassins, but something did not go as planned. Normally, the humans to be upgraded have their minds completely wiped and then the brains left blank to later be made amenable to the instructions of Friendly Corp.
When Sage awoke, she was driven by a deeper desire, one of revenge based on memories that she should not have had. Memories of a massacre perpetrated by Friendly Corp. She tears through the defenses and makes a hasty escape, even defeating one of the other models of Salesmen Assassins. Now, Friendly Corp is on the hunt and wants to return their property at any cost. Sage wants answers and justice.
Sage Escape – Mars Gambit #1, #2, and #3
Sage is hunting down injustices perpetrated by Friendly Corp, focusing on Mars and the misuse of resources in conjunction with the secretive and massively powerful Cray family. As Sage interrogates the scum of Mars, Friendly Corp head of bio-solutions Ximena Jackson acts to move forward with modifications to the Level 7 Salesmen project. Her solution to what happened with Sage is to implant artificial memories in the hosts instead of leaving them blank. In this way, the hosts can be “programmed” with the values of Friendly Corp with no room for error. Permission is granted.
Meanwhile, Sage makes her way into the Cray mansion and is confronted by Raamon, the bounty hunter hired by Friendly Corp to capture or kill Sage. Sage tries to explain that she is a survivor of one of the massacres of human colonies that Friendly Corp is perpetrating and getting away with. After a hard fought battle, Sage is captured, but she must have gotten through to Raamon, because he takes her to Natura instead of back to Friendly Corp.
As Raamon and Sage try to make sense of what they find at Natura Space Port, they are confronted with a team of Level Six Salesmen, a hive mind series that is very deadly. Back on Mars a new player enters the game, Groth, with some deadly tentacles and a thirst for information about Sage. But, Raamon and Sage are using Friendly Corp technology to sneak around the ruins until they run into a little girl who seems to be looking for survivors, the same as they have been.
We are introduced to Imogen Cray, the daughter of the Cray family. She sits in her private rooms with her girlfriend, Soo Mi, and watches the world outside. Her father has given them a gift of wine even though he does not approve of their relationship, but it seems that he has nothing good in store for them as they succumb to a poison of some sorts.
Back on Earth, Sage, Cat, and Raamon escape off world with the trader and the other children that have been survived the massacres. The problem is that the trader is more of a slave trader and that does not sit well with Sage. Cat is a lot of help in this negotiation and Sage makes the trader a deal he can’t refuse.
On Mars, Sage gets to Cray Mansion just in time to see Elvis Cray, the patriarch of the family, delivering Soo Mi into the hands of a gang of organ bandits. Sage makes her way into the mansion and comes face to face with Elvis Cray. She faces this villain who not only allowed Friendly Corp to kill people but then worked to keep it out of the media. “Humanity was designed to be ruled!” After killing Cray, Sage tries to escape, but has to face Groth, a former Level 5 assassin that continued to upgrade himself after serving his term at Friendly Corp, but now he is back to capture Sage.
As the series comes to a close, things are crazy. Sage has been jettisoned from the trader ship, Raamon is seriously injured after the battle with Groth, and now there is a mysterious trespasser in the biolab at Friendly Corp where the new Level 7s are being created. What is next for our cybernetically enhanced heroine? Will she right the wrongs of Friendly Corp and bring this evil monster to justice? What about Imogen Cray? Now that her father is dead and her girlfriend has been sold to organ harvesters, what is her fate?
What’s Next?
Look for more news this week as Damian and the team involved with Sage Escape have a new book releasing this week, Sage Escape: Equinox #1 (of 3), the next chapter in this epic story. To find out more about Sage and the world that she lives in, you can check out Comixology and pick up the issues reviewed here and cruise over to the official website. They even have a cool YouTube channel.
